Hynam is the producer of a ten-part series entitled, “A Day in a Bajan Life”, which features short films on the lives of “interesting but not necessarily famous Bajans”. One of those segments will be shown at next Wednesday’s screening at Frank Collymore Hall.

Film director Saunders will be offering a ten-minute teaser, “Panama Fever”, which is a sneak peek of the documentary “Panama Fever: A Caribbean Journey” which she has been working on for some time, having already shot footage in Barbados, Cuba and Panama.

Saunders – the great-great niece of a Barbadian Panama Canal worker – traces her journey of discovery of the sacrifices, challenges and achievements of her ancestor and other West Indian workers on the Panama Canal and their descendants.

{FILE IMAGE - Alison Saunders-Franklyn with Rudy Langlais} The CaribbeanTales Film Festival @ Island Inn, Barbados is a highlight of the regional film calendar since it was first staged three years ago.

“I’m honoured to be showcased at the gala. I’m telling a story for everybody because most Bajans – and other West Indians – have a relative who went to Panama to work on the construction of the (Panama) Canal. It’s something we should be proud of because they made one the seven wonders of the modern world.

“A lot of work has gone into this project already and we’re now trying to raise funds to complete it,” said Saunders, thanking her editor and local camera person, Rachelle Mayers, for her diligent work on the teaser.

Meanwhile, “A Day in a Bajan Life” enters the world of talented Rastafarian artist, Izebo, who paints wall murals. The 17-minute piece will not only show patrons this colourful aspect of his life but also the trials and tribulations he faces as a homeless person who sleeps in Queen’s Park.

“This is a slice of life in Barbados. If you put all ten segments together, you would have a real mosaic of Bajan life,” observed Hynam, adding that another piece will be shown later in the Festival.

Penny Hynam, who's assisted in delivering some of the Caribbean Incubator Programmes for Audio Visual Entrepreneurs that delivers training for filmmakers, and CaribbeanTales.ca, a non-profit based on Toronto, Canada, that promotes citizen participation through the medium of film

The April 10-15 Caribbean film extravaganza, she noted, is an opportunity to show the local audience “quality Barbadian work being produced”.

“We don’t get much chance to see ourselves on the big screen and this is priceless.”